Driving mechanism for combined washers and wringers



April 13 1926. 1,580,874

G. C. WILKINSON DRIVING MECHANISM FOR COMBINED WASHERS AND WRINGERS I Filed April 29, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l Y a! u. 4

April 13, 1926. 1,580,874

G. C. WILKINSON DRIVING MECHANISM FOR COMBINED WASHERS AND WRINGERS I ilea April 29, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 flay-,3 I a J 5/ #544 3 z .5 e a z/ 23- .525 :i m; 73'' rq o -48 I; I 33 3 /9 3 i 'f I 69 v I Q g1: 6 f /m/e fo/ Patented Apr. 13, 1926.

UNITED STATES;

[PATENT OFFICE.

GUY c. wrLxfnson, for sYRAoIisE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 SYRACUSE WASHING MAoHINEconroRATIoN, or SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR COMBINED WASHERS AND WRINGERS.

Application filed April 29, 1922. Serial No. 557,318.

,To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUY C. VILKINSON, a

citizen of the United States of America, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Driving Mechanism for Combined \Vashers and Wringers, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a comb ned washer and wringer operating mechanism involving the use of a vertically reciprocatory shaft movable in an opening in the bottom of the washing vat in combination with a frame hinged to swing in a horizontal plane to and from a position over the top of the vat and carrying one or more rollers. which together with the vertical reciprocating shaft are driven from the same source of power, mounted upon the frame of the machine and preferably beneath the vat..

These machines are extensively used in household laundrics and kitchens and are mounted upon suitable casters for easy portability from place to place as may be required for more convenient handling of the articles to be laundered, while the motive power preferably consists of an electric m0- tor having a flexible conducting cable carrying a plug for attachment to any of the ordinary incandescent electric lamp-sockets in the .room in which the machine is located, and one of the main objects is todistribute the various parts of the driving and driven mechanisms in such manner as to produce a substantially balancedaction to avoid excessive vibration and noise when the machine is in operation;

Another object is to enable certain parts of the mechanism to be. easily and quickly adjusted to accommodate motors of different speeds and at the same time to permit the use of these different motors on the same frame without special fitting.

A further object is to simplify the construction and control of the various parts of the machine and at the same time to increase the Working etliciency of the various mechanisms.

-Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the mechanism will be brought out in the following description:

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the machine embodying the various features of my invention, except that portions of the legs are omitted.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the same machine just above-the vat-supporting platform together with the various mechanisms mounted thereon, a portion of the platform being broken away to disclose certain parts of the underlying mechanism.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the platform of the frame at right angles to that shown in Figure 1 showing more particularly theoperating mechanism for the vertically reciprocating shaft.

The mechanism forming the subject matter of this invention is specially adapted for the operation of a combihed washer and wringenand involves the use of a substantially circular horizontal platform -1--- supported by a plurality of, in this instance three, legs 2 suitablysecured to the periphery of theplatform 1 in uniformly spaced relation circumferentially, each leg being provided at its lower end with a caster --3- whereby the entire machine may be easily moved along the floor from place to place to suit the convenience of the operator, the platform and legs constituting a part of the main supporting frame.

A cylindrical vat lis supported at the bottom upon the platform '-1- for receiving the clothes and similar articles to be. washed and is provided with a cover 5 normally in position when the machine is in operation but may be removed and laid aside whenever access to the interior of the vat is required. a

An upright tubular post 6 is secured at its lower end to the central portion of the platform 1 coaxial therewith and extends upwardly through a central opening in and some distance above the bottom of the vat and is, therefore, coaxial with said vat. The lower-portion ofthe post 6 is ing openings in the bottom of the vat and I platform is threaded and engaged by a nut r are spaced apart axially -8 cooperating with the flange -7 to firmly clamp the post in place and also serving to clamp the vat to the platform.

A vertical shaft -9 is reciprocally movable endwise and also rotatable in the tubular post 6- through which it extends some distance above the post and also some distance below the platform, said shaft carrying at its upper end the central portion of an upwardly arched yoke 10 having radially extending arms provided with tubular heads 11 for receiving and supporting a pairof inverted cup-shaped dashers -12 for washing purposes.

The, central portion of the yoke 10 is provided with a tubular hub 13 slidable upon the upper end of the shaft 9- and adapted to be held in various positions of adjustment by a locking pin 14, which is adapted to enter a series of diametrically extending apertures 15- in said shaft. That is, the locking bolt 14- is slidable in registering diametrical openings in the hub 13 and shaft '9- and is provided with annular grooves 16- and -17 for receiving a detent 18 Figure 9, said detent being urged toward the periphery of the locking bolt by means of 'a" spring .l6, the tension of which may be adjusted at will through the medium of a screw 17'.,

The annular grooves -16 and 17 a distance greater than the diameter of the shaft 9 while the detent 18 and its adjusting -means including the spring --16' and screw 17 are arranged in a socket in one side of the hub 13 radial to the bolt to permit the bolt to be withdrawn from its lockmg position a distance equal to the distance between the annular grooves -16 and i 17 and thereby to permit the vertical 7 main supporting adjustment of the yoke -10 relatively to the shaft 9 according to the quantity of clothes operated upon in the vat.

An additional upright tubular post 19- extends vertically along the outside of the vat 4 in close proximity to one of the legs 2 parallel with the tubular post 6 and has its lower end seated in a socket -20 of a gear case 21 and its upper end extended through a bearing member -22- on the adjacent side of the vat to receive a vertical shaft 23. The gear case 21 is secured to the under side of the platform -land together with the bearing member -22 forms a art of the frame. the bearings 20 and 22 being provided with set screws 24- by which the tubular post -19 maybe rigidly secured thereto against rotation or relative endwise movement.

A supplemental frame -25 is provided ma am at one end with a gear case -26-- having a hub -27- which is journaled upon the upper end of the tubular post 19.to swing horizontally to and from a position over the top ofthe vat l for receiving and supporting a pair of wringcr rolls 2T' and permitting the clothes to be 1y to one side of the vat, thereby avoiding the necessity forextra supporting means.

The central or inner shaft 9 carrying the yoke 10 and dashers 12 is reciprocated vertically for washing purposes and is intermittently rotated to change the angular position of the dashers to operate upon all parts of the clothes in the vat, While the outer shaft 23 is adapted to be rotated and is geared to one of the wringer rolls -27 for wringing purposes. Both of these shafts are operated from the same source of power, as for example, an electric motor 2S through the medium of suitable gearing which together with the motor are mounted upon the under side of the platform 1 of the main supporting frame in such manner as to approximately balance the weight and load and thereby to reduce to a minimum the vibration of the machine when in operation which is highly important in machines of this character owing to the fact that they are commonly used in household kitchens and laundries where excessive vibration and noise would be extremely annoying.

In other words, I have sought todistribute the motor and power transmitting mechanism to the washer and wringer more evenly around the axis of the vat or main supporting frame and thereby to reduce not only the vibration, noise and wearing of the operating parts but also to enable the machine to stand more steadily in one position without fastening it to the floor or other support, all of which contribute materially to the successful operation of the machine.

For this purpose, the motor 28 and its armature shaft 29 are disposed in a horizontal position at one side of the cen ral vertical shaft 9 and is connected by suitable gearing to a horizontal counter shaft 30 which is mounted in suitable bearings on the under side of the platform 1- at the opposite side of the central vertical shaft -9 and parallel with the driving shaft 29.

This balanced distribution of the various mechanisms, as shown more clearly in F igure 2, is further carried out by placing the relative heavy motor 28 at one side of the central shaft 9 while the gearing for transmitting motion from the driving shaft 29 tothe counter shaft 30- together with the wringer supporting post -19- and outside vertical shaft 23 are carried by the main supporting frame at the opthemotor shaft 29- to the counter shaft 30- is mounted in a suitable gear case- 3 l which is secured to the under side of the platform -1- at one side of the central I -shaft1 -9- opposite to that at which the motor. -28 is located. The outer end of the motor shaft -29-- is journaled inithe gear'case --31- and owing to the fact that the gear case and motor case are secured by separate fastening means to the under side of the platform, the motor shaft is preferably made in sections coupled together end to end a universal joint 32-- to compensate for any slight variation in the almement of the shaft sections in theevent that the bearings for the motor shaft in the gear case and motor case should be slightly out of alinement after those cases have been secured to the frame. p

"It will be observed, however, that provision is made for adjustment of the motor case upon the platform --1- not only to enable the motor to be properly alined with the'shaft bearing in the gear case 31 but also to permit the use of different speed motors and for this purpose, the portions of the platform -1- to which the motor is secured, is provided with slots -33- and -34, those of each set being elongated at an angle to those of the other set to receive lhe clamping bolts as 35 by which the motor is fastened to the frame.

The gearing in the case 31- is arranged to transmit continuous rotary motion from the shaft 29-- to the shaft -30 and comprises a pinion 36 on the shaft 29' meshing with a gear -37r to which is secured a coaxial pinion -38- meshing with a relatively large gear -39,, the gear -'3T- and its pinion -38 being journaled in separate sections of the case '31-, while the gear 39 is splined on the counter shaft --30- to slide endwise thereon and at the same time to impart rotary motion thereto.

A tubular shaft section or sleeve 40 is journaled in one side of the gear case 31- coaxial with and adapted to receive the adjacent end of the counter shaft -30- to form a continuation thereon. This sleeve is provided with an enlarged inner end or head -4t1 engaging the inner face of'the adjacent wall of the case 31- to hold the sleeve against outward displacement and is provided with a series of clutch pins -42 adapted to enter corresponding apertures --43- in the gear 39 as the latter is moved endwise into engagement therewith and thereby to lock the sleeve to the shaft 30-.

The hub of the gear 39- is provided with an annular groove -44 for receiving the forked end of a shifting member '45- which is slidably mounted in the adjacent side of'the gear case 31- and is pivotally connected at --46 to one end of a shifting lever -47, the latter being pivoted at -48- to the case 31-- and having its other end connected by a link -49- to a crank shaft 50--.

This crank shaft extends vertically along 'the outside of the vat 4 near the tubular post 19 and has its lower end journaled in a bearing -51 on the platform -1 and provided with a crank arm 52-- for rereiving the adjacent end of the link --49-,

while the upper end extends to approximately the top of the vat andis provided with a hand piece -53- by which the shaft ---5O may be turned at will to throw the clutch gear -39 into and out of engagement with the clutch sleeve --40.

The outer end of the sleeve 40- is provided with a crank arm 54 connected by a link55- to the intermediate portion of a lever 56 which extends at right angles to and in a plane below the axis of the crank shaft 40-,radially to the vertical shaft --9 and has its inner end pivotally connected at -57- to-a collar 58-- on said shaft for imparting vertical reciprocatory movement thereto, the outer end of said lever being connected by a swinging link -59-- to the under side of the platform -1- as shown in Fig. 3.

A nut 60 on the lower end of the shaft 9 holds the collar. -5T- against downward displacement, while the upward displacement is prevented by a ratchet wheel ,62 secured to the shaft 9 just above the'collar. a

A rock arm 63 is journaled on the shaft 9 just above the ratchet wheel --62 and is provided with a pawl spring pressed into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel --62 to rotate the shaft as the rock arm 63 is turned angularly in one direction and to-permit the rock arm to return independently of the ratchet wheel.

The means for operating the rock arm -63 about the axis of the shaft 9 consists of an upward slotted extension -65- of the lever -56 and a pin -66.- extending radially from the hub of the rock arm -63- into a vertically elongated slot -67 in said extension whereby during i the vertical movement of the shaft 9 by the lever 56, the extension 64- will be rocked transverselv of the axis of said. shaft and thereby effect a partial rotation of the shaft and washer mechanism carried thereby during the upward stroke of the shaft or while the dashers are free from engagement with the clothes.

It is now evident that when the clutch gear 3 9 is shifted into interlocking engagement with the shaft section -40, vertical reciprocatory and also rotary motion will be transmitted from the motor shaft 29 to the vertical shaft 9 and that the withdrawal of the clutch gear 39 from interlocking engagement with the shaft section i will cause the operation of the shaft 9 to cease, while the shaft and outside vertical shaft .23 will continue to rotate. v

The lower roller 27' in the frame 25 is provided with a beveled gear 68 within the gear housing '--26 while the shaft --23 is provided with connected beveled gears -69 splined or feathered thereon to be moved from a neutral position into and out of engagement with opposite sides of the beveled gear on the lower roller'27 by means of a shifting lever 70 for reversing the operation of the wringer rollers in any position of adjustment of the frame -25, which latter is held in difierent angular positions by means of a locking bolt -7l entering anyone of a series of radial openings in the post 19- and operable at will. I

Rotary motion. is transmitted from the counter shaft 30-- to the outside vertical shaft 23 by means of beveled gears 72 within. the housing 21- which latter is connected to the gear case 31r by means of a tubular sleeve -73 surrounding the intermediateportion of the shaft -30 as shown in Figure 1.- The. end of .the gear case 31- adjacent the pinion --36 is provided with a removable cap 36 to permit access to the interior of the case and also the use of pinions of different sizes to maintainthe desired speed of operation of the washer and wringer mechanism with different speed motors.

An automatic switch .75 is mounted upon the base 1 and connected in the motor circuit between the motor and source of power for automatically breaking the circuit in case of overload upon the motor ma am ciprocate the shaft 9 vertically for washmg purposes during which operation, the shaft will be rotated intermittently in one and the same direction through the medium of the pawl -64 and ratchet 62, while the outside vertical shaft -23 will also be rotated to operate'the wringer mechanism in either direction by simply shifting the lever 70- from a neutral position to one or the other of its operating positions but under all .conditions, the load and torque of the vertical shaft operating mechanism will be substantially balanced and thereby to reduce to a minimum the vibration and noise of the machine and cause the machine to be supported with equal pressure upon each of its legs and by reason of this balanced condition, the machine, although mounted on casters, will maintain its one position upon the floor without liability of shifting around from one place to another.

What I claimis:

Driving mechanism for a combined washer and wringer including an upright washeroperating shaft and an upright wringer-operating shaft, and comprising a gear case having spaced parallel horizontal bearings at opposite sides of the washer-operating shaft, a motor driven shaft journaled in one of said bearings, a motor having its armature shaft alined with and connected to the motor driven shaft, a counter shaft journaled in,the other bearing, said motor driven shaft and counter shaft being located at 0pposite sides of the washer-operating shaft, means within the gear case for transmitting rotary motion from the motor driven shaft to the counter shaft, means including a clutch within the gear case for transmitting motion from the counter shaft to the washer-operating shaft and additional means for transmitting motion from the counter shaft to the wringer shaft.

Infwitness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of April 1922.

\ GUY C. WILKINSON. 

